A MAGICAL double act from the north east of Scotland has announced a special appearance in New York to mark a quarter of a century working together.
Ivor Smith and Jeff Burns will travel to the Big Apple this September to headline the longest-running off-Broadway magic show, Monday Night Magic. The performance will celebrate 25 years since they founded award-winning magic firm Fifth Dimension in Aberdeen.
But entertainment isn’t all the duo is known for – with the firm best known for its innovative magically enhanced training sessions in health and safety.
“I think the thing I’m most proud of from the last 25 years is that we still get on,” joked Jeff.
“We’re more than just business partners, we’re friends. And to be able to still say that after a quarter of a century is a great thing.
“We have previously been invited to perform at some of the most prestigious magic venues in the world – including Wonderground in Las Vegas, The Magic Circle in London, and twice at the Magic Castle in Hollywood.
“Monday Night Magic is a big one for us, too – anyone who’s anyone in the world of magic has performed there.”
Ivor, Jeff and Bill Duncan met as members of Aberdeen Magical Society, and founded Fifth Dimension in 1999. With Ivor and Jeff having a background in marketing and accountancy, respectively – and all three well known in the north east as magicians – they noticed a need for a new kind of training and team development service.
Ivor explained: “I had been using magic to help make presentations more fun in my then day job, and discovered Jeff was doing the same. We realised that magic was a powerful tool for helping people remember key messages – and that has been the core of our offering ever since.”
Originally appearing as a trio until Bill retired in 2011, the early days of Fifth Dimension were filled with uncertainty.
Ivor continued: “We set up a business and were confident in our ability to deliver – but there wasn’t really a market for it yet. We’ve worked hard to carve out a niche that brings together our passions for business and magic, and turn that into a credible, sustainable company.”
Fifth Dimension is known worldwide for its innovative health and safety presentations, delivered for some of the world’s biggest firms including BP, Uber and Carlsberg.
Jeff said: “We’ve all sat through a presentation where someone reads every word off a slideshow and barely looks up from their notes. But when you’re communicating important messages about safety in the workplace, it’s vital that people sit up and take notice.
“We use magic as a visual aid to promote our clients’ messages, illustrating key points with tricks and illusions that resonate with our audiences. Someone recently came up to us and described in perfect detail a trick – and the safety message linked to it – 16 years after first seeing us.
“So it’s a real privilege to know that our work has helped people stay safe for two and a half decades.”
From performing on an oil rig in the North Sea to speaking at a TEDx event to having an academic paper written about their unique approach to training, Fifth Dimension’s health and safety work has taken them across the globe – to Thailand, Singapore, the Middle East and all over Europe.
This year alone, Ivor and Jeff have appeared in Australia, the USA, Norway and the Netherlands, as well as across the UK.
As entertainers, they are members of the prestigious Magic Circle and have performed in illustrious venues including the Orient Express and The Savoy Hotel in London, as well as appearing on numerous cruises.
“There are always new people and new experiences to discover, and that’s what we love about what we do,” said Ivor.
“As part of our 25th anniversary celebrations, we have teamed up with a couple of other magicians – Eoin Smith and James Dickson – to write a new show called Four Magicians.
“We’ve been touring it this year and will perform a big homecoming show in Aberdeen in September, just after we get back from New York. It’s like a magic sketch show, and it’s unlike anything we have ever done before.
“Twenty-five years on, this job never gets old.”
For over 25 years, Fifth Dimension has provided magically enhanced training and entertainment across the world. As trainers and presenters, Ivor Smith and Jeff Burns have delivered health and safety training and team development sessions at conferences and events around the world – using magic as a visual aid to reinforce key messages. As entertainers they have also travelled the globe, performing on cruise ships, theatres and in the world’s most exclusive venues.
Find out more at www.fifthdimension.biz